Supernovas
by priceofpower
Summary: After Deidara's final art performance, Sasuke is left severely injured and deaf. Itachi is confronted with all the wrong choices he's made in his life but is it too like to right what was wrong? Can they change the course of fate? (Narusasu)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Shouldn't you be worried just a little? You're about to be killed by my art!" Deidara sneered at him.

Sasuke panted. He was out of chakra. He was just barely able to keep his Sharingan activated at this point and he couldn't move. That chidori blast to his own body had burnt his nervous system and even now his already injured foot was going numb.

But he kept his eyes focused on the blond before him. The one blue eye was wide, pupil dilated manically. Deidara started chuckling.

"That is what annoys me the most about you and your brother!" his opponent growled. "You think you're so cool. Those eyes. Those overconfident eyes always make me so sick! Your eyes have no respect for my art. Always judging me and disrespecting my art! I'll never forgive them for that! I'll never forgive eyes that ignore my art!"

Why couldn't this guy just tell him where his brother was? Sasuke was beginning to get annoyed. This was a waste of his time. Why was Deidara so obsessed with Itachi? It sounded like they almost could be on the same side the way the blond Akatsuki was ranting. He was more annoying than—

"I couldn't care less about any of that," Sasuke said coldly. "I just want you to tell me about Itachi."

He was out of chakra and the world slipped from hyper-clarity to normality once more. He had to be careful though not to lose all of his chakra. His curse mark throbbed slightly. Orochimaru shifted in the back of his mind threateningly.

"So you've retracted your Sharingan…do you really take me that lightly?" Something seemed to snap inside the blond suddenly. He tossed his wild yellow hair, ripping off his shirt. Sasuke's eyes honed in on the seal on the man's chest, right over Deidara's heart.

This wasn't good. He prepared his summoning jutsu just in case the blond decided to do anything drastic.

"Fine." Deidara pulled at the stitches in his chest with a painful shudder. "This is my ultimate art. An art so sublime it will leave a scar on the very earth itself." His smiled was cracked, spreading across his cheeks crookedly. "And I'll sacrifice myself for its beauty and you'll die as well. It's radius is ten kilometers. There is no escape!"

A mouth burst from Deidara's chest and began guzzling the explosive clay.

Fuck.

"And with that scar all will admire my art!"

Sasuke tried to stand but it was no use. The left side of his body was tingling with numbness. Black veins spread across Deidara's skin like a plague, causing a rip in his physical being. A beast took the place of where the man's heart should have been and consumed everything. Deidara began to fade from Sasuke's vision, becoming a bomb composed of his own chakra. That much Sasuke could _sense _even if he couldn't see the chakra's color anymore.

"Even your eyes will respect this! Because my art is—"

Deidara screamed. His body finally disintegrated and compressed into a small black round beast. The thing growled, generating the energy for Deidara's "ultimate art." A beam of light burst what would have been the top of the man's head if he hadn't disappeared by this point.

There was pause.

The beast inhaled, sucking in all things, all energy in one last greedy attempt to amp up the bomb's power.

Sasuke struggled away. He pulled himself across the grass uttering the words to summon Manda, Orochimaru's giant purple. With the snake he could use a space-time ninjutsu to move them to safety. Sasuke exhaled when the snake appeared and he threw himself into the snake's mouth.

He turned just before the giant lips closed over him.

"KATSU!"

Radioactive light enveloped them, burned the side of his face, scorched his eyes and sent an almost electrical energy through his already fried nervous system. The mouth fell slack and closed over him, protecting him.

Then came the explosion.

He screamed but his voice was lost in the supernova that consumed them. It was so loud that something inside his brain seemed to burst, leaving a throbbing static tone in his ears. He convulsed inside the snake's mouth, vomiting viciously when the world felt like it turned upside down and inside out. He pressed his still functioning hand to the side of his head, feeling thick hot liquid slip between his fingers. His body thrashed into what he assumed was the snake's giant fangs.

He felt the force of the snake being blasted back, its body shuddering violently. Did they jump? Did Manda save them at the last minute?

He was only barely aware that he was clinging to one of the giant snake's giant fangs, trying in vain to stop the world from spinning. The curse mark on his neck suddenly felt like it was on fire, tearing apart his skin in a wild frenzy. Was that laughter inside his head?

Then nothingness ascended like an invisible weight against his weakened body.

…

"Deidara is dead," the black Zetsu announced at the Akatsuki's meeting. "At least he went out with a bang."

Itachi stood silently on one of the fingertips only barely paying attention.

"Who did him in? So sad that we've lost yet another member," Kisame purred. "Was it the nine-tail's jinchuuriki or Sasuke?"

Itachi's ears twitched slightly and he inhaled unperceptively.

"It was Sasuke. But it appears that Tobi has died as well," Zetsu continued.

Itachi stopped breathing.

"Deidara took him with him?" Kisame asked. He always talked too much. Asked too many questions but this time Itachi listened carefully.

"You should feel grateful, Itachi," Pain said slowly. "He saved you a lot of trouble."

Itachi said nothing. He did nothing. He didn't know how to feel anymore. And nobody here expected him to.

"Hmmmm," Kisame continued. "I feel like we've forgotten something."

"Tobi has died as well," Zetsu said. "Deidara had no regard for his partner."

"Tobi is easily replaced," Pain interrupted. "But the loss of Deidara is unfortunate. Let us mourn his loss quietly."

Their holographic projections began to dissipate. Itachi stood for a moment before leaving his perch on one of the giant fingers in the hideout. Kisame was staring at him for sure, but Itachi had turned off his Sharingan for the moment. He knew Kisame wouldn't be able to tell in the gloom of their cave. But he needed a moment in his darkness.

He needed the blurred shadowed.

He was careful as he walked through the tunnel not to trip or stumble. He almost wanted to close his eyes. His heart ached. But that was normal. His chest always ached now and there was nothing he could really do about it. No medical ninja would help him even if he wanted to seek them out.

He liked the pain just as he liked the darkness his eyes were becoming subject too.

They were reminders of his sacrifice, reminders of who he used to be and who he was now.

Though he was not entirely sure who he was now.

He reactivated his Sharingan as they near the opening of the hideout. Kisame followed him silently for once. They paused before the opening watching the rain downpour outside.

"It's odd that it's raining so heavily," Kisame remarked after a moment. "It's unusual for this area."

Itachi didn't answer. He took a small breath and walked slowly out into the rain. Maybe the cold will make him feel something.

"That's harmful to your body," Kisame said quietly behind him. "…you of all people should know that."

So the shark ninja had noticed Itachi's failing health. Itachi wasn't surprised. He looked up at the darkened sky and wished for lightning, something to show that the sky was alive and not in mourning. Zetsu was wrong. Sasuke had a duty to fulfill.

He reached out with his senses. He knew that blast wasn't too far away. He should be able to find his foolish brother if he tries.

"I have no idea what a cold-hearted guy like you is thinking but from here…" Kisame could never shut up. "…from here it looks like you're crying."

Itachi didn't turn. He didn't even blink but some of the raindrops dripping down his cheeks are warm. He couldn't sense his little brother. There was no heartbeat of that familiar chakra in any direction.

He extended his chakra sense farther.

Sasuke couldn't die.

"What happened to your little brother sure is a shame though." Kisame's purred voice carried over the rhythmic sound of the rain almost like a chant.

Sasuke.

Itachi turned away from Kisame and finally closed his eyes.

"_Niisan!"_

Something forgotten twitched in his hollow aching chest with the memory of his younger brother's voice. He didn't want to remember that time. He didn't want to see the sunlight in his memory.

"Now you've become the last of the Uchiha Clan."

And that lost sunlight flooded his mind's eye as he remembered…

_Tousan held his hand as they walked through the hospital today. With his free hand, he clutched the book he had been reading. Itachi didn't like the smell of this place. It was…foreboding. _

_Itachi smiled at using the new word he had learned. _

_Kaasan had woken up in the middle of the night last night complaining that her belly hurt her. Itachi wasn't surprised. Kaasan had gotten so fat but he felt like he was missing something and that bothered him. He didn't understand his father's excitement as they rushed through the hallways._

_They stopped at one of the many doors. Tousan quickly pushed the door open and Itachi was momentarily blinded by the bright light pouring through the windows. It was too early. The sun was still eye level with the world._

_That's when he saw Kaasan holding something small and wriggling in his arms. Itachi couldn't see it because it was hidden in a blanket. Tousan lifted him up and set him on the bed with Kaasan. She smiled warmly at him and he looked away shyly. He hoped she could come home soon._

"_Itachi," Kaasan said gently. "Would you like to finally meet your younger brother?"_

_His younger brother?_

_He moved closer to the wriggling bundle in Kaasan's arms. She dipped the bundle slightly so he could see two big black eyes staring back at him. Something finally clicked. He'd read up on his facts later…but did babies grow inside Kaasans' bellies?_

_His breath caught as he took in the sight of his…baby brother. _

"_Itachi meet Sasuke." Kaasan caught Tousan's eye and her face brightened even more if that was possible._

"_Sasuke?" he said timidly and then he smiled. "I'll be the best big brother ever…I promise."_

_Kaasan pulled him close and kissed his forehead chuckling softly. "I know you will!"_

_He could feel Sasuke's quick infant heartbeat between them._

"No," Itachi said suddenly wrenching himself from that painful memory.

"No?"

"Sasuke isn't dead." He turned to face his partner. "I'm going to go find him."

"You're…what?" Kisame walked out from under the cover of the cave.

Itachi's expression was emotionless and cold as he stared at his partner. "Sasuke has a duty to uphold. I'm going to make sure that he remembers why he cannot die."

"Itachi-san…" Kisame was obviously trying to comprehend what the Uchiha was saying. "Pain-sama needs us to stay here until we are called out."

"I am going." Itachi's voice was clear and saturated with authority. "I don't really care what Pain thinks. You can tell him that Deidara created a lot of trouble for me instead of relieving me of it. This is a matter between the last of the Uchiha Clan."

He moved farther out into the wilderness.

The rain stopped.

"I need to do this."

"I think this the most you've spoken since we've became partners." Kisame laughed. "So you're going to fight Sasuke finally?" Kisame followed him. "That is if he still is alive."

Itachi exhaled and paused. "You're going to stay here." He turned his Tsukuyome on his partner, paralyzing the shark ninja in his tracks.

In the inverted world of his all-powerful illusion Kisame shrugged, finally backing off and letting Itachi go. Itachi released him watching emotionlessly as sweat dripped from Kisame's forehead.

"I haven't sweated this much in a long time," the shark said submissively. "But it is sad parting with you like this after everything we've been through together."

Itachi nodded almost undiscerningly. He proceeded to continue into the wilderness. He could sense signatures from Konoha going out to explore Deidara's explosion site. He tried to discern who they were.

He stopped.

And that's when he felt it.

A small heartbeat of familiar chakra.

Sasuke.

Three other chakra signatures surrounded his brother's chakra. But there was something wrong about them. Itachi couldn't sense what it was exactly but he could feel the anxiety…the sadness.

He needed to hurry.

…

Jugo ran to where Suigetsu was standing before the giant and quite dead Manda.

"Sasuke!?" Karin screamed. "Where is Sasuke?"

Suigetsu blinked slowly as if trying to comprehend what he was seeing. Manda was supposedly untamable. Even Orochimaru had a hard time with the beast and here he was still, cold and dead. Half of its body was burned and ripped apart especially near its head. The white of the skull glinted in the sunlight and reminded Jugo of his long lost friend.

For Kimimaro, he would find Sasuke.

"I just did what he told me to do," Suigetsu said eventually. "I used his blood and summoned Manda when the snake disappeared on the scroll but…"

Karin closed her eyes and focused her chakra.

A bird landed on Jugo's shoulder and tweeted sadly.

_ I think the one you're looking for is…_

"I can't feel him!" Karin panicked. "I can't sense his chakra!"

Jugo walked around the front of the snake, prodding curiously at his mouth. The bird tweeted and encouraged his efforts. He had to find Sasuke. Sasuke was his shield against the uncontrollable rage within him. He gritted his teeth.

Manda's mouth opened just enough for them to hear a distinctive thud.

"Sasuke!" Karin screamed and shoved Jugo aside, wrenching the snake's mouth open further. The smell from inside was foul and even further defiled by his death. She dragged the body from the rank cauterized insides of the snake's mouth and laid him carefully on the grass.

"He's not breathing," she muttered. Jugo saw something flash in her red eyes right before she leaned down and pressed her lips to Sasuke's and began pumping his heart.

Suigetsu rolled his eyes but didn't move.

Jugo held his breath as Karin beat upon Sasuke's chest and breathed life-air into his lungs. Two more birds landed on his shoulder and tweeted sadly. Jugo ignored their pessimistic thoughts considering the nature of the world. He didn't believe in the nature of the world. He couldn't or else he wouldn't exist since he was Orochimaro's experiment. All four of them were.

Sasuke was badly burned especially on the left side of his body. His left eye was glassy and swollen with cauterized skin. Jugo winced looking over the Uchiha's body, his clothes in tatters clinging to his skin. What had happened to their leader? The curse mark on Sasuke's neck pulsed with life dangerously.

Sasuke suddenly sputtered against Karin, blood slipping from between his lips.

"Shit," Suigetsu said and leaned forward, pulling Karin away. "Dude, can you hear me? Are you all right? What happened?"

Sasuke groaned but didn't respond. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment; his right hand twitched, rose slightly, and fell back weakly against the ground.

Karin shoved Suigetsu back. "What the hell, asshole!? Can't you see that I'm trying to heal him?"

"Psh, I think he needs more than just CPR, Karin." Suigetsu smirked. "Right, Sasuke?"

Jugo watched Sasuke silently as the Uchiha screwed his face up against the pain. He didn't answer but the other two didn't notice. Karin punched Suigetsu. But it failed as it always did as Suigetsu simply let his features become water and Karin simply punched through him.

Some of the water splashed on Sasuke's cheek, the side that was not burnt but he winced anyway. He turned toward the two squinting his good eye at him. "Suigetsu…?"

The two froze and turned toward their leader.

"Hey man you look like shit." But Suigetsu smiled. "You probably rest a little."

"I can't believe _you _were the one to defeat Orochimaru." Karin crossed her arms and turned away, tossing her long red hair.

"I…" Sasuke groaned again. His body began to tremble slightly. He coughed and more blood sputtered from his cracked lips.

"Anyway…" Karin moved quickly over to Sasuke and offered him her arm. "You should drink my blood and regain some strength so we can get you out of here—"

Sasuke's eyes rolled back into his head.

Jugo knelt down beside the shaking Uchiha. Sasuke's body was covered in sweat, saliva, blood and other gunk that had been growing inside Manda's mouth. The birds on his shoulders fluttered their wings.

_He is going to die. His wounds have become infected. You know this_, they chirped.

"Karin, you need to do something," he said urgently, feeling Sasuke's forehead. "I think his burns are starting to fester."

Kimimaro's sickly face floated in the back of his mind. He remembered hose sunken green eyes staring helplessly up at him unable to voice his thoughts anymore. There had been blood on his lips then too. This had been right before Kabuto had taken him away forever to chain him to a hospital bed until his friend's body finally gave out.

Sasuke was Kimimaro's successor. There was no time for Karin to be stalling. Jugo grabbed her arm, bit into it and let the blood drip into Sasuke's mouth. The Uchiha's body glowed with the healing green chakra but he knew it wouldn't be enough.

The birds told him so.

The moments slipped by painfully as Karin shared her life energy with Sasuke. Jugo watched worriedly as the Uchiha's bodily wounds healed somewhat, at least enough so that it would prevent scarring. But the fever didn't subside.

"Suigestu, get some water," he ordered and immediately the white haired ninja was off to fill his cantina.

"We can't take him to a hospital," Karin said slowly, the blood loss causing her mind to become hazy. "They'll find us and Sasuke would kill us for getting him caught."

Jugo swallowed. He wasn't meant to be making these hard decisions. Maybe he should just go back into hiding in a cave where he couldn't hurt anybody. Even the people who were supposed to be his shield were dying around him and he was useless.

"I know," he said finally trying to ignore the birds' woeful songs. "We'll go to the nearest town and hopefully your blood will be enough."

Sasuke's head fell back.

"I can't give him any more," Karin said, her crimson eyes clouded. "It's too dangerous for both of us. That's the most I can do."

Most of the burns had been healed though Sasuke would still need bandages. But the fever was still apparent in his flushed cheeks. Suigetsu came running back with water.

"Good your back!" Karin snapped at him. "We need to move Sasuke. He's got a high fever that won't break."

Sasuke moaned weakly as Jugo lifted him carefully.

Hold on, Jugo silently spoke to him.

…

Naruto ran through the forest and froze.

"Uchiha…Itachi?"

The Akatsuki member stood passively before him but something felt off. His face was paler than Naruto remembered. He readied himself against them man. He knew it was dangerous to go up against Itachi alone but Sasuke was so close and if he captured Itachi—

"I just want to talk to you for a moment," the Uchiha said calmly.

"There won't be any talking," Naruto countered avoiding the Uchiha's eye. "I will capture you and find Sasuke."

"Why do you care so much for my brother?"

The question caught Naruto off guard. "W-what?"

"Sasuke is no better than a missing nin," Itachi continued calmly. "Why are you so persistent on finding him?"

Naruto smirked, oddly aware of a warmness in his chest that he usually ignored. "That's because I think of him more as a brother than you ever could! He's my best friend and you set him on this path!"

Itachi's lips twitched.

Naruto readied a kunai and ran toward the man but his eye saw the Sharingan. Fuck. The world's color scheme inverted into Itachi's Tsukyome.

"You are already inside my genjutsu."

No shit, Naruto thought bitterly and slashed at the endless amount of crows flying around him in this suspended illusion. "Damn it!" He focused on Itachi's phantom-like image before him.

"You want to bring Sasuke back, right? You would do anything to help him, right?"

"Did you not hear what I said?" Naruto countered. "He is one of the first bonds I ever made! I will do anything to protect him and bring him home!"

"Even by force?" Itachi's red eyes held his own blue ones penetratingly. "If Sasuke returned with you willing that's fine. But what if Sasuke doesn't. What if Sasuke posed a threat to the village?"

"That would never happen."

"It very well could. Don't be naïve."

Fuck these people and trying to force him to make impossible choices. Naruto straightened his back. "I will protect my village and bring Sasuke home. I made a promise and I never go back on my word."

"You can't always do everything. Sometimes a ninja must make impossible choices. You would risk the safety of Konoha for Sasuke? What you've said is nonsense and childish."

"Someone told me the exact same thing before." But the weight of the man's words hit Naruto. What was he talking about? This didn't seem like a question Itachi would ask. It almost seemed like—

"But I never go back on my word. It's my ninja way," Naruto said confidently. "It would never happen." He pounded his chest. "I would find a way to protect Konoha. I always protect Konoha…and I will always protect Sasuke."

Itachi's face relaxed and his lips curved upward.

Naruto's eyes widened. Did he—did he just smile?  
Suddenly something feathery fought its way into Naruto's mouth and into his chakra system.

"I've just shared some of my power with you," Itachi said. "I hope the day never comes when you have to use it."

Naruto hit the dirt in the real world, shaking and sweating considerably. "What…what is the meaning of this?"

Itachi's face was still relaxed, as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "I will always be able to find you…but also as a last resort if things ever go astray."

"So you are going to come for the kyuubi!" Naruto tensed trying to ready himself for battle. What was up with this guy? And god he looked so much like Sasuke it hurt.

"Not anymore," Itachi said with a finality Naruto couldn't deny. "I just wanted to know if Sasuke still had a place in Konoha. I'll be going now. I have something important to do."

"Hey!" Naruto yelled. "Let's settle this right now!"

But Itachi was gone.

Naruto rubbed his head. He had forgotten how frustrating Uchihas could be.

…

It was so hot when Sasuke awoke again and he was covered in sweat.

He struggled against the nothingness and the sweet released of unconsciousness. He needed to stay awake even if it hurt. And it _did_ hurt. His body throbbed and stung with burning agony. He was aware of bandages wrapped around half his head, over his left eye and cheek.

He moved his left fingers a little and sighed in relief. At least he wasn't so numb but he worried over his left leg. It still felt like it was filled with pins and needles. His stomach clenched nervously when he began to focus on forces outside his body.

Like that static that continued to buzz in his right ear.

He wrenched his right eye open desperately trying to look around and gauge what had happened. He seemed to be in a hotel room in a bed. The linens were rough and cheap. It was dim though, obviously evening. His eye watered and blurred his vision. He thought Jugo was sitting nearby.

His memory swam when he tried to force it to clarify the recent events. He was vaguely aware that Suigestu had been nearby. He remembered the familiar splash of Suigetsu's chakra on his cheek. And Karin…

Had he died?  
He couldn't breathe suddenly and struggled to sit up. The figure he thought was Jugo came over to him and pushed him back against the pillows gently. He squinted at the man's face. It was Jugo…and his mouth was moving.

Sasuke closed his eye for a moment.

He was not stupid. He maybe feverish and his memory may be fuzzy but he was not an idiot. That sick feeling in his stomach twisted into a knot.

"I'm deaf." He thought he said it but he couldn't hear his own voice. He felt the vibrations in his throat. For all he knew, his words could have been unintelligible. He gritted his teeth, anger burning through his veins. That damned Deidara! All he wanted to know was where his brother was so that he could finally kill that bastard!

Jugo was prodding his shoulder.

Sasuke squinted again but all this effort was exhausting his consciousness again. His vision blurred even further. He wished that it wasn't so hot. His head started to throb when he realized that Suigetsu and Karin were also hovering over him.

He tried to look at their lips but it was just so blurry.

And beyond them, he thought he saw the sun setting through a window…or something. It was a deep maroon mixed with dark blues in the distance.

It was so beautiful…

"I can't…" he thought he said but then he passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

Jugo looked over Sasuke.

The Uchiha was deaf.

"Karin, Suigetsu," he said suddenly realizing that Sasuke had lost consciousness again. "We need to find him antibiotics or something that will break this fever." It had been nearly 24 hours and his fever hadn't broke once.

He looked toward the sunlight pouring through the window.

"We have a bigger problem than that," Karin said. "Someone is searching for us. They've got dogs that have picked up Sasuke's scent." She pulled out Sasuke's old clothes. "We need to throw them off our trail before anything or we need to leave."

They all looked at Sasuke whose breathing was harsh and erratic.

He wasn't going anywhere soon.

"I'll go to the local medical center. They should have something to help break his fever," Suigetsu said.

"I'll use Sasuke's old clothes to throw the dogs off our trail. It's covered in his sweat."

"Why did you keep his old clothes?" Jugo asked curiously. Suigetsu snickered.

"Uhhhhh…" Karin's face reddened considerably. "You know…just for…I thought…For situations like this! I was being cautious!"

"Sure you were," Suigetsu scoffed.

Karin growled at him. "One day I'm going to kill you."

"We should hurry. I don't want to be alone with Sasuke too long just in case…" Jugo said quietly and the other two nodded.

They quickly left and Jugo sat quietly beside the sick Uchiha wondering if Kimimaro was watching over them. He would watch over Sasuke the way he couldn't watch over Kimimaro when he began dying.

Kabuto hadn't even let him visit his friend in the medical center. Jugo had been forced to stay in bondage. At the time he had thought that it would be safest that way. But Kimimaro had been dying and Jugo would have never hurt his friend.

It was his only regret: to have never said goodbye.

He dabbed Sasuke's forehead with a wet cloth.

He closed his eyes.

He remained with Sasuke for two days. He forced the Uchiha to drink water to keep his strength up. Karin didn't return. Suigetsu guessed that she had been captured by the Konoha ninja and Jugo hoped that she would be okay. Even if they didn't really get along, he didn't want her to be hurt or in danger.

Suigetsu had stolen some antibiotics and some fever reducers but neither of them knew what they were doing and nothing seemed to help. Sasuke didn't wake up anymore. Sometimes he murmured in his sleep but the words were nonsensical. Jugo had banished the birds from coming to him. They sang about nothing but death.

One crow refused to leave the balcony's edge. It had appeared yesterday. It didn't speak with Jugo but simply watched over them solemnly. Suigetsu didn't trust the bird and tried to kill it but Jugo knew something was special about the crow. He hoped it was Kimimaro watching over Sasuke.

"Sasuke," Suigetsu said yawning to cover the sound of his stomach growling. "You should probably wake up now." Jugo watched as Suigetsu walked over and checked Sasuke's fever. "I think it's gone down finally."

Jugo exhaled and offered a small smile. "Maybe he will wake up soon then."

He was getting pretty hungry himself. They've been living off whatever was left in their packs too afraid to leave Sasuke alone especially with Karin missing. They were afraid there were spies within the town looking for them.

Suigetsu lifted Sasuke's head up and began dribbling a little water down the man's throat. If he didn't wake up, Sasuke would starve to death if the fever didn't kill him. They would have to take him to a hospital then or else he would surely die.

Both Suigetsu and Jugo knew it but neither wanted to admit it.

The crow flapped its wings.

"I need…" Jugo's shoulder burned as the curse mark suddenly spread. Everything turned red. "…to kill."

He launched toward the sick body lying before him. It was barely breathing as it was. It didn't need to breathe anymore. He could help it out even. If he could wrap his hands around its throat—

"Fuck! No, Jugo!" Suigetsu grabbed him.

"It needs to die!" he screamed thrashing against the arms that bound him. But not for long. The curse mark fueled his anger. It would be easy to overpower this thing that dared to try to stop him from killing that disgusting excuse for a life before him.

The door slammed open.

Something red caught his eye. The world inverted and twisted. The Sharingan…Sasuke?

_What are you doing?_

He didn't know that voice. He couldn't move. He body was compressed but at least the anger and rage was gone. Oh god, he had been about to kill…

Shame coursed through him. He was failure. He knew he was a failure. I'm so sorry, Kimimaro, he thought. I can't protect anything. I need a shield.

_You look over my brother for two days and now you plan to kill him?_

I'm so sorry! Why couldn't he control himself? Wait…who are you?

The world turned back to normal and he fell hard against the wooden floor. He panted trying to regain his stability. Beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks. His hands shook. The voice was right. Sasuke was in more danger from himself than even of the fever.

Jugo felt Suigetsu shaking beside him.

"You're…" Suigetsu murmured. "You're…Uchiha Itachi?!"

Jugo's eyes snapped up to look at the cloaked figure before him standing calmly in the doorway. Suigetsu threw a kunai at the man. Itachi easily sidestepped it as if the flying object were nothing other than an annoying bug.

Jugo didn't move though, still trying to catch his breath, as a bird fluttered down beside him. They chirped happily.

_Don't worry, Jugo_, it said. _This one is good._

This one is…good?

"How did you find us? Did you hurt Karin?" Suigetsu yelled. "What are you doing here?"

Itachi walked further into the room, shutting the door politely. "My reasons are none of your concern but don't worry. I'm not here to fight you or and I did not harm whoever you're talking about."

Suigetsu moved to attack but Jugo grabbed his leg and shook his head. "The bird says that he's…good."

Everyone paused at Jugo's words.

Suigetsu scoffed. "Those animals are idiots then! Why would Sasuke want to kill someone, his own brother even, if he was 'good?'"

Itachi's mouth twitched. His red eyes lingering for a moment on the birds before he moved to his brother on the bed. Jugo moved opposite Itachi beside Sasuke.

"Do you swear not to hurt him?" Jugo asked seriously knowing the question itself was stupid and he knew he should not trust the S-rank criminal in anyway. But he did not believe Itachi was the sort of person who would kill senseless…

Not like him.

And Itachi had prevented Jugo from hurting Sasuke. They truly were brothers with the same ability. If Itachi wanted Sasuke dead, he wouldn't have stopped Jugo.

Itachi's Sharingan searched his face for a moment, staring at something even Jugo wasn't aware of.

"I am thankful…" he said almost inaudibly. "…for you loyalty to my brother."

Jugo didn't say anything. He didn't feel he needed to. The birds were right. He could see no evil in Itachi's red eyes no matter how intimidating they were.

Itachi turned to the curse mark on Sasuke's neck. "Hmmm…"

"What are you doing?" Suigetsu asked leaning over Jugo. "How can you be so calm?! You were about to kill Sasuke a moment ago!"

Jugo ignored the water ninja.

Itachi stared at Sasuke for a moment unmoving. Jugo wondered what was going on in his head. Sasuke never told them any details. He knew Itachi had massacred the Uchiha clan. He couldn't imagine what that was like and yet here he was staring at his injured younger brother and Jugo couldn't believe that Itachi was such a ruthless power-hungry murderer.

"I wish I had seen the seals that had been used to bind the curse mark…" Itachi said slowly. He sighed and started to check over his brother, assessing the inflamed wounds on his face and followed the weakness in Sasuke's left side. Itachi prodded Sasuke's knees, checking his brother's reflexes. "So he had a fever for two days? You should have taken him to a hospital."

"Itachi…" Jugo began softly. "Sasuke is a missing nin. Someone would have recognized him."

"Is it worth risking his death otherwise?" Itachi asked emotionlessly. "But it matters not whatever happens will happen at this point."

"Is he going to be okay?" Suigetsu asked.

Itachi looked at the white-haired ninja for a moment. "He'll live…but I can tell that his left eye is blind and his left leg didn't react when I tested his knee."

Jugo caught Suigetsu's eye.

"There's one more thing," Jugo said. "Sasuke was deafened from the explosion."

"I see." Itachi closed his eyes.

They sat in silence for a moment.

"Why are you here?" Suigetsu asked suddenly. "Why do you suddenly care? You murdered your family."

Itachi did not open his eyes. "Sometimes… one has to make hard decisions when one is a ninja. I'm sure you both understand that."

Suigetsu scoffed. "So what…are you going to heal him and then fight him to the death or something. What kind of motive is that?"

Itachi's eyes flashed. "I wouldn't expect you to understand nor do you need to."

Suigetsu's stomach growled.

"You should get something to eat…and something for Sasuke as well," Itachi continued. "I have a feeling that he will wake up soon."

…

The sun was beginning to set and cast the world in dim pinks, purples and oranges. Even with Itachi's deteriorating vision, he could appreciate the beauty of the sunset.

Suigetsu had gone to acquire food leaving Jugo and himself alone with Sasuke. Itachi hadn't expected them to trust him. Sasuke had probably told them all about how horrible he was. And he was horrible even if everything he did was part of a role. But living a lie and doing horrible things to keep up that lie, made him who he was.

And he didn't think he would be able to break out it.

He looked over at his broken brother. But things had changed. Sasuke wasn't supposed to be gravely injured. He clenched his fists beneath his cloak. That stupid brat, Deidara. Itachi had always guessed at Deidara's insanity but he hadn't expected him to take it out on Sasuke. Though he was pleased that Sasuke had been able to push Deidara to his limits.

He frowned.

But Sasuke wouldn't have been in that situation if it hadn't been for him to begin with.

His chest ached as he went to sip his little cup of tea. He shouldn't have run to get here. It put too much strain on his already weakening body and now his left hand pained him slightly. Jugo was staring out into the distance on the balcony. His brother did keep strange company.

There was a groan from the boy in the bed and it took all of Itachi's effort not to run over to his brother and see if he was all right.

Itachi knew better. He knew that Sasuke would try to kill him if he saw him. So Itachi would wait. He would stay out of Sasuke's sight until his hearing returned…maybe even until he was completely healthy. They would fight. Itachi would give him the last protection he had to offer, Amaterasu against Madara, and Itachi and his "truth" could finally allow himself to die in Sasuke's presence.

Jugo didn't have to restrain himself like he did and was immediately at Sasuke's side.

"Sasuke?" Jugo asked despite the knowledge that Sasuke was deaf.

Itachi's chest tightened uncomfortably but Sasuke didn't deserve his pity. He had made his little brother suffer enough. He exiled himself to the shadows of the room preparing to disappear at any moment. He hoped that Suigetsu and Jugo would know better than to tell Sasuke that they had let him live.

Sasuke shifted on the bedding, raising himself slightly and flexing the fingers of his left hand. Itachi worried over his brother's leg. The fact that it didn't react was very disconcerting. Sasuke blinked a few times and rubbed his right eye.

Jugo waved his hand in front of Sasuke's face. "Sasuke, can you read my lips?" Jugo tried to place himself directly before Sasuke's gaze.

Even with Itachi's Sharingan active his eyes were still relatively weak when it came to details and he was farther across the room. But even his eyes caught the panic and genuine fear in Sasuke's face.

"I…" Sasuke began and his voice sounded strangled from lack of use. He raised his own hand in front of his face and seemed to stare at it for a long moment.

Itachi narrowed his eyes and that uncomfortably feeling in his chest worsened.

Sasuke began looking wildly around the room. Jugo grabbed the Uchiha's wrists and Sasuke wrenched himself back, slamming his back against the wall. He yelled in pain and clutched at his left leg, eyes wide.

"I can't see…" Sasuke croaked blinking furiously. "I can't fucking see!" Jugo made an attempt to hush and grab him once more but Sasuke screamed. "Get off me! Ah—who are you?!" Sasuke pushed himself further against the wall as if trying to ground himself. "I can't see…" Then something seemed to dawn on Sasuke and he clamped his hands over his ears and screamed.

"What do I do?" Jugo asked worriedly. The birds fluttered away, scared of the commotion. "What do I do?" He looked desperately at Itachi. "He can't hear…he can't see…?"

Itachi looked at his younger brother. Actually looked at him as he pressed himself against the wall half mad. Sasuke was trembling uncontrollably and his breathing came as ragged breaths. He watched as Sasuke buried his face in his chest behind drawn up knees. Itachi had tormented this man. He had forced him into revenge. He had robbed him of his dreams. Couldn't there have been another way? There must have been. Why didn't he think about it more?

_Niisan, I want to be apart of the police force just like father. You should join too. That way we can all work together to protect the village._

Itachi blinked away the memories.

Had he failed this badly?

He moved across the floor to his crazed younger brother, slipping out of his Akatsuki coat and taking off the ring with the character for "peace" inscribed on it. At least now he will never be subjected to his horrid Tsukuyome ever again, a small bitter voice said in the back of his mind.

Sasuke sensed his proximity and stiffened, recoiling further against the wall.

"Otouto," Itachi said gently despite everything. "Didn't I always say I'd be there for you? Even if…" His voice trailed off and he reached for Sasuke's hand.

Sasuke ripped it away.

"Who are you?" he snapped but his voice sounded slightly off.

Itachi grabbed his hand again and before Sasuke could rip it away starting tracing characters in his palm. "You need to learn some patience, otouto."

Sasuke blinked at him. Itachi could see how glassy his one visible eye had become. He repeated the characters in Sasuke's shaking palm. Sasuke's mouth moved without words.

_Breathe._

He repeated the character once more before he saw Sasuke start to take deep breaths. He sat quietly and waited for Sasuke to calm down. Itachi deactivated his own Sharingan and let the world fall into blurred shadow.

"Who…are you? You're not one of the others." Sasuke enunciated every syllable but his voice was dangerously quiet. Itachi was able to make out that Sasuke narrowed his blind eyes. He reached forward on Itachi's arm and felt down towards his hand.

Itachi's stomach twisted.

He felt Jugo's eyes on him.

Sasuke would never know. Perhaps he could continue with his plan. Maybe he could find a cure for his younger brother and things would continue as they were meant to.

Itachi carefully took Sasuke's hand and spelled out some more characters.

Sasuke's mouth moved. He pulled his hand away and set it in his lap. He raised his head as if trying to look Itachi in the eye. Of course, he didn't realize that the action was currently impossible for both of them.

"Karasu…And why are you here?"

Itachi's mouth twitched. Sasuke didn't believe him. As he shouldn't. He was learning.

_To help you. Rehabilitation._

Sasuke's lips thinned into a frustrated line. He held on to Itachi's hands, tracing the fingers curiously. If Itachi hadn't known better he wouldn't have thought anything of the action but Sasuke was searching for his ring. Sasuke's hands retracted into his lap again.

He activated his Sharingan and motioned for Jugo to come over. The orange haired man sat down beside Sasuke and looked lost. Itachi moved back slightly and Sasuke's body reacted to the movements jerkily.

"Just write characters in his hand," Itachi told Jugo. "I need some information." He resisted the urge to poke Sasuke in the forehead as he got to his feet. Sasuke was beyond being poked.

Itachi frowned.

He may be beyond poking but Sasuke needed help and Itachi didn't have the first clue on how to help his little brother. Not without going to a hospital, he thought bitterly. That would be dangerous for all of them.

Somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind, he missed Konoha.

_I'm home!_

_ He heard bare feet on the wooden floor. Sasuke rounded a corner and launched himself into the air toward him._

_ Welcome home, Itachi!_

He shook his head. Why was he back here? He was just going to cause more problems. Sasuke would get better—

Itachi stopped. Wishing and hoping did not become him. It never has. He closed his eyes and contemplated the options set before him. He has never let fate decide his actions. Never.

Though that's what got him here, he reminded himself bitterly.

He deactivated his Sharingan and walked into the nearest clothing store.

It was time for a change.

…

Sasuke inhaled deeply in the scent of miso soup.

He could feel the vibrations through the floorboards as Jugo crossed the room to give it to him. It had been another few days and now at least he was able to stay awake for more than just a few hours. Not that being awake was better than sleeping. Sleeping was better, at least in his dreams he could see, he could hear and he could fulfill his destiny.

He waited for Jugo to tap his arm and place the soup bowl in his hands. He couldn't judge the distance only by feel. At least not yet, he thought. He needed to get around this. This darkness was crushing, stifling and strangling him, consuming everything.

He took a deep breath hoping that it wasn't ragged with the fear he felt inside. He hadn't moved much. Only to go to the bathroom and even then, he couldn't move his leg. He had to be practically carried everywhere. Deidara should have just killed him. The explosive idiot couldn't even do that right.

The bowl was placed in Sasuke's hands and he lifted it up carefully to sip at the broth.

The static in his right ear was subsiding slightly and he wondered it he would get at least a little of his hearing back once the aftereffects subsided. But his left ear registered nothing at all, the eardrum completely blown in the blast. He took another sip remembering how dim it had been when he had first woken up in that feverish haze. At least the last thing he would ever see had been that sunset, he thought sourly. He had completely forgotten about the dangerous effects of infection. Though he seemed to be able to pick up some light because he could distinguish between day and night but that was about it.

He took another sip of the broth trying not to greedily gulp it down.

He hated sitting in here. He had never been so stagnant in his entire life. He was always on the move. Always working toward his goal.

But maybe his Sharingan could still work…

Maybe with his curse mark…

He finished his soup and felt another presence enter the room. He had been working on his ability to detect chakra signatures. He had never really practiced this ability because his Sharingan could pick them up naturally but not it seemed like it wouldn't have been a bad skill to develop.

This was the unfamiliar man…Karasu. He didn't trust him. He felt _familiar_ in a way he didn't like. When he had first awoken he had almost thought that the man was…

He pinched his nose. And what was he himself doing? But he banished that thought as soon as it arrived and focused on sensing the signatures around him.

Jugo's chakra signature was familiar and oddly gentle despite the man's internal rages. He was around the most and so Sasuke had come to know his the best. Suigetsu's was almost like the water he could turn into. It moved rapidly within him and though it was hard to focus on, Sasuke could tell it was him by the current within him. Right now, Suigetsu was sitting somewhere to his left.

Karin was still missing. He didn't know why and no one had bothered to tell him. He hated the feeling of helplessness that came with offering his hand to communicate. It was undignified. But he had to shove back his pride in this condition. If he let it get in his way, he would never get better.

He knew that.

Jugo took the bowl away and grabbed his hand. He winced internally being so manipulated. He just wanted to be alone but—

_Thinking?_

"Hmph." He didn't want to answer. He hated only feeling his voice and he couldn't even gage their reactions to make sure it came out correctly.

The new guy, Karasu, who supposedly was some sort of medic, poked Sasuke's shoulder to alert him to his presence. Involuntarily, Sasuke's head jerked in his direction. Not that it made any difference whether he was facing the man or not.

This man kept his chakra signature masked well. Sasuke always had a hard time focusing on it and it made him suspicious. Why would some medic want to hide his chakra? It could be a leftover habit from something in the man's past but still the question remained: why?

Sasuke didn't want to test his Sharingan yet. He didn't want to push his weakened eyes until he was sure they would be okay. Plus, as much as he would hate to admit it, he was afraid that it wouldn't work. That he had lost the Sharingan along with his vision.

Karasu took his hand.

_Get. Up._

Sasuke furrowed his brow. That was another thing. His left leg was more or less paralyzed and a numbness spread from his stomach when he contemplated the idea that the paralysis was spreading. Of course in the scheme of things that was the least of his worries. Though it was just the icing on the cake that he would never be able to complete his dream. Not to mention that Deidara had always robbed him of one of his wings in his cursed transformation.

Shit, he was zoning out again.

Karasu was pulling his shoulder. Sasuke dead-weighted. He was _not_ going to lean on someone for help. He just needed to rest and things would work out. He had absorbed Orochimaru after all. Maybe that would help him heal. It had definitely increased the healing rate. Though the curse mark kept throbbing every now and then. Among his many worries, this was just one more that was concerning.

Karasu pulled him up anyway and Sasuke leaned heavily on his shoulder, balancing precariously on his good leg until the man lifted him bridal style. The world spun and a wave of nausea swept over him. No balance, one leg, no vision, and no hearing. He was a piece of work.

He took a deep breath. What did Karasu want anyway? Being lifted, Sasuke had no sense of direction whatsoever. Sasuke tilted his head in a way that said _what the fuck are you doing?_

The man set him down on top of the toilet seat before he started unwrapped the bandages around Sasuke's body. So they were in the bathroom, go figure. Sasuke tensed when he felt hands on his face. He noticed the fingers were shaking slightly. He blinked his left eye, the one that had been hidden for what seemed like an eternity: nothing, the same darkness as the other. He exhaled slowly turning toward the floor. Absently, he wondered if he was scarred. His hands traced the left side of his face. It stung slightly against the cold of the free air but the skin felt more or less smooth.

His hand was grabbed; characters were drawn on his palm meticulously:

_Clothes._

With that a new shirt and pants were thrust into his arms. He felt the man turn to leave him alone and fear of this _eternal_ silent darkness gripped him. It shouldn't have. He was only in the bathroom but it twisted in his gut anyway and he reached out and caught Karasu's hand.

Karasu's hand was limp in his own as if the man didn't know what to do. Sasuke didn't know either. He felt like there was something he was missing and it bothered him.

The man pulled his hand away.

He left Sasuke in the darkness with only his thoughts once more. Sasuke was going to lose his mind. He felt the seams of the new clothes to make sure he wouldn't put them on backwards or inside out. They were soft but cheap. Probably something that would blend in easily with the civilians.

The fear in the pit of his stomach knotted.

Civilians…Was he going to be a civilian now? He had never been a civilian. He was born to fight, bred to fight. It was in his blood. Even his aunt and uncle who had owned the sweet shop around the corner from his house had been ninjas.

He stood up carefully but the nausea overcame him and he vomited, just barely able to aim for the toilet.

No. He gritted his teeth, wiping his mouth. He took several breaths trying to regain some balance and power over himself. He needed to leave the hotel or something. He felt his way to the shower and turned on the water, waiting until the temperature was warm enough. He was careful to lean against the wall and not put any weight on his numbed left leg.

His movements were slow but deliberate and the rush of the warm water felt nice over his skin. The sensation wasn't heightened or anything but he was more aware of it than he would have been before. He leaned against the cool tiled wall and massaged his left leg. It still had some feeling, which was a good thing but he couldn't move it properly. The most he could do was wiggle his toes.

He finished washing, carefully dressed himself and paused in front of what he knew was the mirror. He opened his broken eyes wide, reaching out to make sure his aim was right. It was. There was a light breeze to his right, which was cold against his damp skin. He felt for its origin and discovered a window cracked open just enough to let the steam out. He shoved his hand through the crack and felt the warmth of the sun against his skin like a comforting presence.

It was peaceful.

He was aware of the bustling of the people in the town below but he wasn't sure how he knew it. Perhaps it was just a sensation of movement below. So they were at least on the second floor of the building.

The curse mark on his shoulder throbbed.

_So you let Deidara ruin your body…_

That all-too-familiar voice purred in the back of his mind.

_And you don't even realize who's with you, do you?_

Sasuke froze.

_But I can tell you. My senses are not limited to yours. _

Anger flared inside him.

_But perhaps you do know…_

That was impossible. Because _he_ would never be here. And _he_ surely would never try to help Sasuke. Itachi only ever had one thing on his mind: demented and sadistic power. Besides his teammates would have told him or something…

His curse mark pulsed.

_It seems you don't quite have the resolve you once did to hold me._

He screamed when the curse mark released on its own. His one wing broke through bones and skin as he transformed into the hideous monster he had become. The world swam.

_Uchiha Itachi._

He lost it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Itachi worried over his younger brother.

They couldn't remain stagnant here for long.

Karin had been captured by Konoha's ninjas and the dogs had caught Sasuke's scent here. Eventually, they would have to return to Konoha. It was inevitable because of Sasuke's condition but as of right now if they returned Danzo was too much of a threat and his influence too great. He would surely try to harm Sasuke if he returned.

And he wasn't sure what _he_ himself should do. He didn't think he could return to the Akatsuki without being reprimanded for leaving for so long. Plus his cover would be blown if news of Sasuke's survival and his whereabouts in relation to his brother were discovered.

Sasuke screamed.

The bathroom exploded.

A creature burst through the doorway snarling and hissing. Jugo and Suigetsu were on their feet in moments running toward the grey skinned monster. Itachi narrowed his eyes. It was Sasuke's curse mark. Orochimaru was making his move.

"Don't!" he commanded just as the head of a giant white snake burst out of Sasuke's shoulder.

"Orochimaru's trying to take Sasuke's body!" Suigetsu yelled, cowering behind Jugo who began twitching.

"Kill…" the orange-haired man murmured.

Itachi moved quickly. He stunned Jugo with his genjutsu and turned toward the hissing white snake. It snapped its jaws at him, froth forming around its fangs.

"So you're finally going to emerge?" he asked it calmly.

The snake hacked, opening its mouth wide. The top of a slimy head could be seen as Orochimaru pulled himself up from its depths laughing menacingly. "My consciousness lives within all my curse marks," he explained. "And I _know_ you, Itachi. I can see through your lies even if the baby of the Uchiha clan can't."

Itachi didn't move. He closed his eyes. Orochimaru didn't know anything.

"If you don't want me to kill your brother right here and now, you will give me your own body!"

"What?!" Suigetsu shrilled.

"All it takes is one bite from these fangs and Sasuke will die."

"Then do it." Itachi's voice was cold. "You'll die with him then, won't you. Ah. No. You're certain that you will survive through other curse marks." Itachi opened his eyes. "Clever."

Orochimaru's neck extended baring his fangs to bite the older Uchiha.

Three more heads of the white snake ripped through Sasuke's limp body and thrashed about the hotel room. They smashed the mirror and ripped through the floorboards. One attacked Jugo but Suigetsu jumped with his sword and chopped its head off. Another smashed through the doorway of the balcony and caused the wall to crack.

"Aren't you going to do something?!" the white haired ninja screamed.

Itachi opened his eyes.

"Susano'o," he murmured.

His eyes spun into the Mangekyo Sharingan honing in on every detail in the room. He saw the snake clearly for what it was, every chakra point, every weakness. The orange spirit chakra of his jutsu surrounded him as a shield. He raised the Totsuka blade swiftly at Orochimaru.

He would seal the monster forever in a world of drunken stupor.

The blade went straight through the man's chest.

"You think some spirit sword can kill me?!" Orochimaru growled but then his eyes widened as the blade began to intake his chakra. "No! No!"

It was over before it began.

The snake was pulled inside the blade, yanking every little bit of Orochimaru and the curse mark's power outside of his younger brother forever. It was like a vacuum, taking everything and leaving his brother unconscious on the ground.

Itachi's eyes deactivated and he exhaled, exhausted. Even that small display had cost him and his chest pained him worse than before. He sat down slowly trying not to display his weakness. The room was a mess. He didn't need to see it. He could smell the blood from the snake.

Sasuke groaned.

No doubt Orochimaru had told him that Itachi was actually Karasu.

He pinched his nose.

Itachi turned to see Jugo and Suigetsu with their mouths hanging slack. He supposed they weren't prepared to see Orochimaru again let alone defeated by a spirit blade that they hadn't even known about. Itachi caught Jugo's eye and knew he had the man's trust regardless of who he was and everything he had done.

At least the curse mark was gone. Itachi's eyes widened with sudden realization. Orochimaru had been inside Sasuke and therefore had been the closest to him… Could he have finally awoken the Mangekyo?

Or would his brother's blindness prevent him from awakening the secret jutsu?

He couldn't activate his Sharingan to look at his brother in detail. He could tell Sasuke was trying to get his bearings though. Jugo was trying to help him stand but Sasuke shoved him back roughly, falling forward against the floor.

Suddenly the crazed Uchiha gave a brash shout and thrashed wildly against the floor. He lifted his head as if searching for something, banging his hands against his ears. Jugo and Suigetsu tried to still the younger Uchiha but Sasuke blasted them with lightning and collapsed.

Itachi's chest gave a sudden jolt and he coughed violently unable to hide his weakness.

Ragged breaths ripped through his body painfully. He clutched his chest tasting something metallic in his mouth. Sweat had formed on his forehead.

"Are you all right, Itachi-san?" Jugo asked his eyes reflecting old pain.

"Can you…?" Itachi swallowed. "Can you get me the bottle of pills from inside my Akatsuki robe?"

…

Itachi dreamed for the first time in years.

"_You will die."_

_ Kisame looked at him. Itachi never talked about it. Kisame had never asked. But here they were threatening a doctor in some god forsaken little town and faced with the inevitable. Itachi had known about the blindness. He had even known of a small heart defect that he had when he was very little._

_ He hadn't anticipated the full strain Mangekyou Sharingan would have on his body. He didn't think he would die because of it. He had thought Sasuke would have plenty of time before they finally faced one another and he received his judgment. _

_ Now Sasuke's days for revenge were numbered._

_ And the truth must die with him._

_ The image swirled back, time traveling to not-quit-forgotten past. He stood above his parents, katana ready. Their shoulders didn't even flinch when they felt his presence._

_ "Tousan…Kaasan…" he said and for the first time he didn't know what to say. For the first time there was doubt in his voice. A constriction in his heart that he had thought he had killed for the greater good._

_ "We know, Itachi." His mother's voice was gentle and soothing. He knew her eyes were closed without seeing her face. A true ninja. _

_ "Promise me this," his father said softly breaking Itachi's train of thought. "Please take care of Sasuke."_

Please take care of Sasuke.

_"I will."_

"I will." Itachi's eyes snapped open.

There was a soft strained whimper.

Itachi was immediately alert, years of living in the wilderness making him naturally paranoid. For a moment he was trapped in a swirl of darkened blurs, his heart rate accelerated and his hands clenched and ready to strike whoever was about to attack.

But then he remembered where he was, activating his Sharingan to clarify the world around him.

Jugo and Suigetsu had gone out a few hours ago for food and to judge the threat of the Konoha ninja. Karin must have done a good job throwing them off their trail for them to take this long unless they had given up. However, that was unlikely. Itachi would have to go out and address the issue himself eventually.

There was another muted moan from across the room.

Itachi focused in on Sasuke. His younger brother was propped against the wall rocking back and forth slightly. He wasn't sure if the rocking was intentional or otherwise. He had a suspicion that it was because of Sasuke's lack of sensory stimuli. He himself was having trouble accepting a world completely without vision though it was an inevitable aspect of his own future. He couldn't imagine the silence crushing against him as well.

Sasuke had only had one frustrated outburst after Orochimaru had been extracted from him. And Itachi was sure that was mostly due to the sudden loss of a huge source of power for his younger brother. He wondered what Sasuke was thinking. Did he know about Itachi's presence? If he did, he hadn't given any hints.

He respected his little brother's patience with the loss of his mobility and two of his senses.

Sasuke moaned again and Itachi noticed how the younger's hands were pressed against his throat, feeling for the vibrations. Something in Itachi's stomach tightened. Sasuke had stopped speaking since he had been robbed of his curse mark. He only communicated through writing characters on people's hands and spent many hours lost in thought.

So he's trying to feel for his voice, Itachi thought taking a deep breath. His own health had taken a turn since the strain he had put on his body to extract Orochimaru. He was nearing his body's limit. Every cell in his body beckoned his impending death.

He took a deep breath and got up. He had to use the bathroom.

The floorboards creaked under his heavy steps and Sasuke visibly tensed. Itachi looked at his little brother for a moment and then stomped on the floor. Sasuke sat up. His head swiveled as if trying to figure out if someone was here. Itachi naturally hid his chakra signature completely. His brother couldn't sense him and therefore also couldn't recognize him.

"Can you feel that?" Itachi asked the deaf boy.

He stomped again.

Sasuke's head turned in his direction and somehow Sasuke managed to catch his eye. He froze confronted with that obsidian iris. Sasuke's eyes were so blank now. He had always thought he knew what was best but his plans had failed. He did not protect Sasuke like he promised.

It had been his father's last wish.

He heaved deeply. "I'm…sorry, tousan." His chest pained him as he began moving toward the bathroom once more.

"I know you're there…" Sasuke's voice was labored, too much emphasis on the vibrations giving the sound a sort of twang.

Itachi regarded his little brother carefully. Guilt gathered in his already painful chest. This was Sasuke's voice. Itachi knew Sasuke couldn't hear but now faced with the first consequence of deafness, the full weight of the situation finally dawned on him. Sasuke couldn't hear himself. He couldn't hear Itachi. Talking was probably becoming awkward and unsettling.

"Hello?"

Itachi winced hearing the voice once more. He abandoned the bathroom and moved toward Sasuke. "I'm here, otouto." He knelt down and offered Sasuke his hand.

Sasuke pulled him closer causing Itachi's chest to give a small jolt. His body shuddered as a coughing fit ripped through him. Sasuke waited until it was over.

"Why?" was all the younger one asked.

Itachi grabbed his hand and drew a question mark.

"Tell me why…" Sasuke continued slowly obviously trying to articulate every word perfectly. "You're helping me. What kind of fucked up game are you playing?"

Itachi tensed. A small smile graced his lips. Sasuke knew.

He exhaled slowly, gathering his chakra, and placed both hands on either side of Sasuke's face so that his eyes penetrated into his younger brother's.

And caught Sasuke in a makeshift genjutsu.

…

Sasuke couldn't breathe.

Not because he was in pain. Not because he had been punched.

He had spent a small eternity trapped within a dark and silent universe and now was standing in a small wooded area that he knew well. It was so bright. Everything was so green, colorful and warm. It must be summer. He simply couldn't react for a moment, caught up in the awe of vision. He heard the voices of birds beyond the trees and exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

He used to play hide and seek here with—

Itachi.

There he was standing as his eight year old self. His older brother's hair fell messily about his chin, his clothes covered in dirt from whatever they had been playing. Sasuke checked himself over, his tiny hands, and his decreased height.

"Um…" His voice was definitely a few octaves higher than normal.

He was in a four year old body.

Well. Shit.

"Hello, otouto," Itachi said and his brother's own high child voice throwing Sasuke for a loop. "I'm surprised you haven't gone crazy and tried to kill me if you knew it was me."

It was strange hearing those words come out of an eight-year-old's mouth. Sasuke crossed his arms defiantly trying to put the awe and relief of hearing and vision aside. "You didn't answer my question."

Itachi sighed and Sasuke thought he saw some sort of internal struggle within his brother's eyes.

He hated it.

But he couldn't do anything about it. He was trapped in a genjutsu and so far he wasn't being tortured so he wasn't going to push his luck. Besides there was a reason why Itachi hadn't just killed him or left him to die. As much as he wanted to kill his brother and finally give his family some peace, he would wait and think this through.

If the past week or so had taught him anything, it was that he needed to start thinking through his actions.

_Why do you care so much?_

_ Because you're my friend!_

His jaw clenched as he unwillingly remembered that yellow-haired bastard. "Well…?" he growled at Itachi.

"Each of us lives dependent and bound by our individual knowledge and our awareness. All that is what we call reality…" Itachi said slowly. "However, both knowledge and awareness are equivocal. One's reality might be another's illusion. We all live inside our own fantasies."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked sharply.

"We're in an illusion right now," Itachi continued. "And yet it feels so real, doesn't it? We can breathe air, hear the birds of our past and see one another as we once saw one another. We know it is an illusion but our minds still cannot stop it from feeling real."

"Can you just say what you mean, you bastard?" Sasuke growled. "Then I will break this fucking illusion and strangle you with all the strength I have left!"

"You speak with such confidence as you always do." Itachi's head tilted slightly. "But for now, I'm willing to take your word for it."

Sasuke took a deep breath telling himself that it was pointless to attack in this place. He was under Itachi's control. It would just be a waste of his precious chakra. "I'm done playing. You afraid of dying to a deaf-blind cripple?" He smirked. "But wait…I don't even know if it's worth killing you anymore. It seems to be cheating to kill a dying man. I could feel you coughing and smell your blood. I should just let you die in shame." He clenched his fists. "You're not worth my effort. Fuck your Mangekyou and your lies."

"So you figured it out." Itachi watched him for a moment. "I am dying. My heart is going to give out soon. There is always a price for power. You know this too. Even the Mangekyou has a price, each time you use it, the weaker your eye becomes until eventually you're consumed by darkness."

"…Blindness?" Sasuke laughed. "I wonder how much _you_ can see with _your_ eyes."

Itachi's lips twitched.

"So what's the point of this?" Sasuke continued. "You going to finally put me out of my own misery and then die a coward?"

"No."

"No?"

"I never wanted you dead."

The words hung in the air dangerously, threatening Sasuke's entire concept of reality.

"That is probably the biggest lie I have ever heard. You only wanted me alive to test your damn ability. But now you've lost it just as I have."

"I have lost nothing. I may be dying but I was the one who ripped Orochimaru out of you and sealed him away forever."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. He fucking knew it. There was no way one of the others could have taken his curse mark from him. But of course Itachi wanted him dead. The bastard didn't have a soul. "Shut the fuck up! I'm so sick of your lies! You're not the brother I thought I had. I learned that the hard way!"

He was out of breath, anger biting through his veins. He was shaking with the urge to throttle Itachi. But he couldn't fall into his brother's trap. He couldn't.

"Listen to what I said before…" Itachi said. "About how one person's reality might be another's illusion. Are you so confident that you didn't question your own reality?"

"I know my reality! And one day you're not going to be apart of it!"

"What if I could prove it to you?" Itachi said quietly. He said down in the grass quietly. "What if I didn't kill our clan for power?"

"Shut up. Just shut up. You're a cold blooded murderer who betrayed and slaughtered our clan!"

"I was planning on having the truth die with me." Itachi sighed resolutely. "But some things never go as planned. I can see now that you will never follow the path I intended you to follow."

"What are you talking about?!" Sasuke said. "Are you saying—"

"I cannot change you."

Sasuke froze.

"I realize that now." Itachi gave a small smile.

The smile seemed to stab Sasuke through the chest with a flood of unwanted memories.

"I never recognized your own strength and determination," Itachi said. "I pushed you away when I should have let you in. I put myself above you, drove you to hatred and told you to murder to gain power when I had never murdered myself until…until that night."

Sasuke started to shake. This wasn't real. It wasn't true. It was just another one of Itachi's tricks. Even if a small nearly destroyed part of him whispered his hopes that…that it might be true.

No.

He swallowed.

"I continually ask you to forgive me," Itachi said and he looked away.

Was that…was that shame?

"I've been thinking a lot lately. I see what I've driven you to become and seen what's done to you—"

"I don't need your pity! I will get through this and regain my strength."

"It's not pity." Itachi's voice was gentle. "You're a criminal and it's my fault. So let me share this with you…as your equal."

The world suddenly changed and they were standing at the edge of a waterfall.

"What is this?" Sasuke asked with wide eyes.

"My memories." Itachi was quiet. "This is what really happened all those years ago…"

Shisui stood before a thirteen-year-old Itachi, his one eye bleeding. "Danzo has taken my eye, Itachi…I don't think it'll be long before he takes the other one. That's why…" He ripped out his remaining eye and handed it to Itachi. "I'm giving it to you. That bastard doesn't need it. All he wants is power." Their cousin sighed sadly. "That's all anyone wants." His smile returned. "But you'll protect the village and the Uchiha's honor no matter what happens. I know you can do it. You're my best friend after all."

And with that Shisui jumped from the edge to his death into the chasm below.

"Itachi…you didn't really kill him?" Sasuke asked unable to hide his shaking. This wasn't real. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be real. Itachi tried to kill him many times!

The area changed again and now they were standing in the old Third Hokage's office.

"The Uchiha have become traitors to the Leaf!" one of the elders was saying while the young ANBU Itachi watched silently before them.

"They must be dealt with as traitors!"

"Wait, Koharu. Don't be so hasty to reach a decision. The Uchiha are one of the oldest clans in the village," the third pointed out. "I want to try to negotiate things before we jump to conclusions."

"Your efforts are in vain," Danzo said coldly. "The Uchiha will never concede and they will all have to be killed. That will include the innocent children." Danzo cast a nasty glance at Itachi.

Sasuke sucked in a sharp breath. What? That wasn't true. What had the Uchiha done? He clenched his fists. He should kill this man for insulting their clan as he did and for taking Shisui's eye!

But no, he didn't believe this false illusion. He couldn't.

"Don't say such things in front of Itachi! Besides taking on the Uchiha will be no easy task. It could never well start the fourth ninja war," the third snapped before turning to the memory of Itachi. "Please try to buy us as much time as possible. I will come up with a strategy. Maybe I can prevent their coup d'état."

The image began changing again. Sasuke looked fearfully at his brother. Itachi had closed his eyes.

"You know the Uchiha will not be persuaded and the third will be forced to execute the Uchiha," Danzo told Itachi presumably later that evening. "Even you know that and your little innocent brother will be one of the many killed. You've witnessed the effects of war. Do you really want your little brother to be scarred by it too?"

ANBU Itachi's face was emotionless. "Is that a threat?"

"Itachi!" Sasuke interrupted. "How could you just stand there after knowing what this man did to Shisui!? And you were blamed for it!"

"Do you believe me?" Itachi asked softly.

Sasuke trembled full of conflicting emotions. "I don't know. Despite what I believe and assuming this is true why did you not kill him?"

"It was unnecessary violence," Itachi answered simply.

Sasuke scoffed. "And slaughtering our clan…was that necessary violence?"

"What would you have done?" Itachi asked carefully. "The Uchiha revolting would trigger a war. Other nations would take advantage of the civil dispute in the Land of Fire and invade. And you…you probably would have died."

"You have two choices," Danzo continued unaware of the future Uchihas conversation. "To align with your clan and then die with them or align with the Leaf, save your brother and prevent a war. All you have to do is eliminate the Uchiha before the coup d'état, before all chaos breaks loose. Only a double agent could do such a mission."

"Double agent?" Sasuke's eyes fastened on his brother.

"Father requested me to join the ANBU to spy on the village's leaders…and the villager's leaders asked me to spy on the Uchiha sensing their revolt."

"I know you love the village as much as I do…" Danzo's voice pained Sasuke's ears. "I know you will accept this mission and make the right choice. To save your brother."

"T-to save me…?" Sasuke repeated as if finally hearing what the old council member was saying.

"You didn't know anything about what the clan was planning…you were innocent." Itachi opened his eyes, freezing the montage of memories. "So I sought out the other Uchiha who helped me carry out the mission: Madara Uchiha. The one you thought was Tobi was only his disguise. He was no better than Orochimaru latching onto Obito Uchiha's body."

"Obito?"

"It doesn't matter. That masked man died in Deidara's explosion. I checked myself after I saw Naruto."

"You…you saw Naruto?" Sasuke was having trouble breathing trying to take everything in. Did his brother actually…did he really want… Why was Naruto always involved? Who was Madara?

"Madara was one of the founders of Konoha, the one who first awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan and then obtained the eternal Mangekyou by stealing his brother's eyes when his own eyes failed him. He died an old man but his spirit latched on to Obito when the child nearly died." Itachi shook his head. "Disgusting and when he returned in Obito's masked body, he set the kyuubi out to attack the village because of a stupid grudge he'd been carrying for decades. When I realized that and realized that it was in fact Madara, I sought him out. I asked him to help me…"

In the memory Sasuke saw Itachi approaching the masked Madara, the one eyehole all too familiar and recent in Sasuke's mind. He flashed back to Deidara's explosion and his body shuddered.

"I have terms," Itachi's memory said. "I will help you extract your revenge on your clan but you are not to harm the village itself. And you're not to touch Sasuke Uchiha."

Sasuke's breath stopped.

He realized they were standing in their own house. Itachi stood over their parents like he had seen so many times when Itachi had tortured him in the Tsukuyome. He collapsed on the ground, clutching his chest. This wasn't true. He couldn't watch again.

"No," he gasped.

"I see…" his father's voice was so proud and reserved. "You've aligned with the other side then?"

He watched in horror. Suddenly, he saw memory Itachi's hands shake as he lifted the katana. "Tousan, kaasan…I…"

"We already know, Itachi."

Oh god his mother's voice!

"I regret…" the child Itachi beside Sasuke said. "…causing you so much pain and letting you suffer."

"Itachi, just promise me this," their father said. "Take care of Sasuke."

Sasuke's head was spinning. There was something wet dripping from his chin. His father…his father had thought of him in his final moments?

The memory of Itachi began shaking as hard as "real" Sasuke, his grip on the katana slackened.

Sasuke saw tears fill and flood Itachi's face for the first time in his life.

"I will," the memory vowed.

"Do not fear," Fugaku continued. There was a softness Sasuke had never heard in his father's voice. "This is the path you have chosen. Compared to you, our pain will be over in an instant. Even if our philosophies differ, I am proud of you."

The memory of Itachi could barely hold the katana, crouching over in pain as tears dripped from his nose and scattered onto the floor.

"You are truly a considerate child."

The memory Itachi finally mustered the strength to raise the blade.

Sasuke passed out.

**A/N This will be narusasu for those of you who are like "where's Naruto…?" O_O But its taking me a long time to get it done because I'm literally drowning in work. Chapters will probably come out a little slower because I've also hit a small bump in the plot in the coming chapters…sooooooo yeah that's about it. Please let me know where you think the story is going, where it could be going, if its going too fast or anything like that or whatever else. Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Itachi moved quietly through the trees.

He was close to what he was looking for; he could feel it. He hadn't exactly worked out how he was going to go about doing what he wanted to do but he needed to try. Especially since now Sasuke had become catatonic after Itachi had shown him the truth of what had happened all those years ago. Worse than that, the stress on Sasuke's chakra system had caused him to lose more feeling in his leg and now he couldn't walk at all. Just adding more things to the list of things Itachi already regretted.

He left his little brother in the care of his teammates and prayed that Jugo wouldn't have an outburst while he was gone. There was only one person who could help them and now was the time. He walked along side the road knowing full well he couldn't be seen by anyone other than who he was looking for. He was too close to Konoha and he wasn't sure he would survive another full-fledged fight with someone.

He turned a corner and came face to face with a certain blond jinchuuriki.

"Uchiha Itachi!" Naruto blurted and he readied a kunai. "What do you want now?"

"Shouldn't you run away?" Itachi couldn't help himself. Old habits died hard. "You're just one person against the Sharingan. Didn't you learn anything from our last encounter?"

Naruto growled. "I can go from one to a thousand in a second!" As on cue, at least a hundred Naruto's appeared. He faltered for a moment. "Aren't you going to attack me?"

"I just came here to talk," Itachi said carefully and Naruto narrowed his eyes. "But this time I want to show you something."

"Well I'm going to capture _you_!" Naruto declared and ran forward. "Because if I capture you then I can see Sasuke and show that bastard how much of an idiot he is!"

Itachi wasn't really in the mood to play Naruto's games. He was tired and his brother needed sick. He resisted the urge to pinch his nose in exasperation.

Naruto ran forward and immediately Itachi caught him a genjutsu. The world inverted and the sky turned red. Naruto slashed around in the bottomless illusion in vain. Crows circled them as Itachi allowed himself to appear before Naruto.

"I have no interest in fighting," Itachi explained again. "You said before that Sasuke is one of your first bonds."

"He is more of a brother to me than he could ever be to you! I will do everything in my power to save him from himself!"

That's exactly what Itachi wanted to hear. His chest pained him at the expense of chakra regardless of how used he was to using genjutsu.

"And I will take you down so he can stop this crazed desire for revenge."

"You would do anything to save Sasuke?"

"Anything." Naruto's fists clenched. "I made a promise to bring him home!"

"You know Sasuke is a missing nin. He will have to be tried if he does return. Usually the penalty is death."

Naruto faltered.

"And there are those on the council that may not want Sasuke to return or may want to use him." Itachi spoke slowly trying to make the blond understand in not so many words. "There are many that want to use the baby of my clan. Sasuke could easily be turned into a weapon against Konoha if he falls into the wrong hands." Although not right now, Itachi thought.

"Sasuke is too strong for that," Naruto argued. "He would never betray Konoha like that. He wouldn't have reason to."

Danzo is the perfect reason why Sasuke would turn on Konoha.

"But what if he did, would you be able to choose between Konoha and Sasuke? Would you kill your best friend for your village?" Could you make the hard decisions as I had to, Itachi thought. Would you make the same mistakes?

"I would save them both!"

"Don't be naïve. Sometimes ninja have to make hard decisions like this. Who would you save?"

Naruto chuckled. "I don't care that I'm naïve. I _would_ save them both and protect them both. Even if I'd have to die doing so."

A crow forced its way into Naruto's throat. Naruto hacked and choked, tearing at his mouth to try to pull the crow out. Then his blue eyes widened.

Itachi smiled.

"This is my truth, Naruto," he said quietly and they returned to the real world in the forest. "I want to protect my little brother."

"Itachi." Naruto gasped for air. "You…?"

"I want you to make it so Sasuke can return safely."

"Do you know where he is!? Did he fight you?!"

"Yes, he is with me but no we did not fight." Itachi took a deep breath. "He was severely injured after his fight with Deidara. I need to bring him to Konoha so he can receive the proper medical attention."

"What?!" Naruto shook his head. "So you're telling that-that you're actually like…_good_?"

"Good is a relative word, Naruto-kun. Would you like to see Sasuke?"

"How do I know you're not trying to trick me and capture me?"

But Itachi didn't miss the slight dilation of Naruto's pupils at the possibility. It made him…he wasn't sure but it pacified his mind to know that there was someone else with Shisui's determination to save everyone, some else that wanted to protect Sasuke as much as he did.

"If I wanted to capture you, you were quite helpless in my genjutsu, I could've taken you then."

Naruto thought for a minute. "I mean…maybe…"

Itachi pinched the bridge of his nose. He needed to sit down. His own problems were worsening. He didn't want to admit it but even the Sharingan was beginning to fail at keeping his vision clear.

He started walking away, hoping, that the blond would follow. He knew Naruto would but he also knew that Naruto wanted to hide in the trees and pretend Itachi didn't know he was following. Itachi would have laughed if he thought he still could. He hadn't laughed in years not since he was very young before he was even a genin.

He blinked, trying to focus the blurring trees in front of him.

He felt like he should feel something.

And maybe he did but he wasn't sure what to call it: wistful?

…

Itachi walked into an out of the way hotel in a small-unnamed town.

The former Akatsuki definitely wasn't his old self even Naruto could see that. He didn't wear his robes anymore and there was a resoluteness in the way that he moved now that Naruto couldn't describe. It was like Itachi had finally let the weight of the world crush him. Naruto still wasn't sure if he believed what he had seen in his mind. Itachi was a master of illusions after all and this could clearly be just another trap. Though this seemed a little out of character for the proud Uchiha prodigy.

It was too sneaky. If Itachi wanted Naruto, he would be tactful not sneaky. He would respect Naruto's dignity. At least that was Naruto's impression of the man.

But a part of him believed what he had seen. There was too much in those images, those _memories_, to be just an illusion. He saw the pain that was in Itachi's eyes when he was about to kill his parents. He knew that pain: the impending isolation that Itachi was resigning himself to. Itachi knew that if he killed his clan, he was signing his own death sentence at the hands of his innocent brother.

Naruto didn't agree with the logic. He would have found another way. There had to have been another way. There _always_ is no matter how naïve and stupid that may sound. But he did see the anguish on Itachi's face.

He followed Itachi into the hotel and down the hallway. The door at the very end was left ajar. Damn it, Naruto thought, he knew I was coming.

He took a deep breath. Maybe he should have gotten Sakura or Kakashi? Oh well, he could handle it. He would handle it. For Sasuke…if what Itachi had shown him was true and what he had said had been true as well. He could hear arguing from inside.

"Why do you talk to the birds?" a man was saying irritably. "It's weird. And why don't you make them do something useful like rescue Karin or something?"

"Because birds don't bother themselves with the affairs of humans."

"That's a dumb reason."

Naruto stepped into the threshold of the room and all speaking ceased. He was confronted with Itachi sitting cross-legged on the floor with a fresh cup of green tea in his hands. There was an orange-haired half naked man standing by the balcony beside a white haired water ninja with sharp teeth. Naruto turned his eyes to the far corner.

His breath caught.

It was Sasuke.

The raven was leaning against the wall, staring blankly and wrapped snuggly in blankets. A plate of untouched rice and a bowl of miso were placed beside him. Sasuke made no indication that he was aware of Naruto's presence. What did Naruto expect though? The last time he had seen Sasuke, the Uchiha had tried to kill him before running off with Orochimaru…again.

"What the hell!?" the white haired ninja shrieked. "Itachi! You brought a Konoha ninja here! This is the last thing that Sasuke needs! He doesn't want to go back, he wants to kill you—"

"I am very aware of my brother's intentions, thank you, Suigetsu," Itachi said calmly. "Thank you for trusting me, Naruto. These are my brother's companions, Suigetsu and Jugo."

"Hey, what's up with Sasuke?" Naruto asked ignoring Itachi's pleasantries.

"What the hell, don't be rude!" Suigetsu barked. "I'll kill you!" He drew his overlarge sword, grinning evilly.

Itachi's red eyes flashed.

"Fine!" Suigetsu stomped past Naruto angrily. "I don't want to be here when Sasuke shoves a chidori through both of your chests anyway!"

The man named Jugo turned away to look out over the town.

Naruto moved over to Sasuke and knelt down. The Uchiha still did not react. "Hey, Sasuke, what's up?"

"He can't hear or see you, Naruto-kun." Itachi's voice was soft and saturated with regret. "He's been still like that for a few days now since I showed him my truth and it's making his condition worse." Itachi moved to where Naruto was kneeling beside Sasuke. "My brother used chidori on himself to neutralize bombs that had been implanted into his bloodstream but unfortunately they left his leg nearly paralyzed. But now neither of his legs react."

Something twisted in Naruto seeing Sasuke like this. It was so different from who Sasuke really was. This couldn't be Sasuke. It must be some cruel trick. His veins felt as if they were on fire and he gripped Sasuke's shoulders. The kyuubi within him growled threateningly and his chakra spike as if he had thrown oil on fire.

And that chakra scorched through his fingers right into Sasuke.

"Wake up, you bastard!" Naruto screamed. "Why does it always have to be you!? It isn't like you to give up at some little hiccup in your plan."

"I don't think my truth is a hiccup," Itachi said quietly beside him.

"I need to fight you!" Naruto screamed louder as if maybe he could break through Sasuke's deafness. He leaned in and pressed his nose against the raven's. "You said once that when two ninja of the same level smash fists that they could see into one another's heart!"

"Naruto—" Itachi reached for him but Naruto pushed him back.

He could see the red chakra gathering around him, adding more power and a feral growl to the tone of his voice. His nails grew sharp and pinched Sasuke's frail shoulders. "I saw what was in your heart just as you saw into mine that day, goddamn if I let you waste away!"

Sasuke twitched, his head turning slightly.

Itachi and Naruto held their breaths but then the younger Uchiha slumped back against the wall, staring into nothing. The left one was just slightly cloudier than the right one. Why did you have to leave, he thought angrily. Why did you have to let this happen? I tried to bring you home and I failed—I won't fail again.

Naruto was shaking.

He did not chase Sasuke to bring him home, just to find him and let Sasuke waste away into himself just because his brother turned out to be someone different that what everyone expected. Naruto didn't care that he wasn't sure if he believed Itachi's story. He did believe in Sasuke.

He looked back at Itachi. The man's face was too pale and there was a sheen of sweat glazed over his skin.

"Naruto," the older Uchiha said softly when the blond had finally calmed. "You have to bring Sasuke back to Konoha and protect him. I can't do anything for him here. His teammates can't help him and…"

"And?" Naruto's eyes were huge. This couldn't possibly be happening! Itachi was a murderer.

"…I'm afraid for Sasuke."

Something inside Naruto seemed to shatter and understand without understanding. Because he was who he was, he smiled at Itachi and gave him a thumbs-up. "I'll protect him," he promised. "It's my ninja way."

"You truly are a unique one, Naruto-kun." Itachi regarded him for a moment but his features were softened. "Here's what you need to know. Sasuke is both blind and deaf. His ears were blown out due to Deidara's explosion and I believe he lost his sight due to an infection that spread. Also, he used Chidori on himself, which severely damaged his chakra system and maybe even his nervous system. Tsunade is the only one who might be able to help him."

Itachi's shoulders heaved with breath as he started to lift the catatonic injured raven. He told Jugo to pack whatever Sasuke owned and the orange-haired man obeyed quietly. Itachi's body shuddered unnaturally as he passed Sasuke off to Naruto. Naruto felt the boy physically stiffen in his arms. He was like a doll, his legs hanging limply and uncannily. Itachi helped Naruto position Sasuke on his back; Sasuke's head fell limply on his shoulder. It made Naruto's stomach turn uncomfortably.

Itachi coughed violently into his hand.

"You don't look too good, Itachi."

"Don't worry about me. Just take Sasuke back."

Leaving this man here went against everything Naruto stood for. He could not leave someone who had suffered like he suffered, worse than he suffered. Especially when they looked as sick as Itachi did.

Sasuke's head moved slightly side to side as if trying to listen. His breath was hot against Naruto's neck.

"Please," Itachi said. "I failed with Sasuke. I am a disgrace and should have known better than to overlook my own arrogance."

Naruto could sense the worry and the love the man had for his younger from. Naruto wasn't as stupid as everyone believed; he picked up on certain things. This was one of them.

Itachi loved his younger brother and his village to the point where his own life meant nothing to him.

Because who would care about the man who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect his village and his brother.

So that was the kind of decision he was talking about, Naruto thought.

"Come home, Itachi," Naruto said. "I don't know how but I will try to protect you too!" And when I'm Hokage, I will make sure something like that will never happen ever again.

"Tell Suigetsu we've gone back to Konoha," Itachi said quietly to Jugo. "Meet us there if you wish but let us travel alone."

Naruto beamed.

…

Sasuke was home.

But it wasn't at all how Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi had wanted it to be. Sasuke had been unconscious in the hospital for three days while Tsunade tried to stabilize his chakra system and return movement to his body. He only seemed to be aware when Naruto was around screaming about this and that.

("Baaa-chan, just fix him already!

"This isn't as easy as it looks, brat.")

Sasuke would suddenly have a flare in activity—turn his head, blink his useless eyes or clench his fists. Tsunade had repaired his chakra systems as much as she could and his injured leg. Sasuke would be fine…if he would only wake up. However, she couldn't do anything for his hearing. The infection had rendered his left eye completely inactive and she restored as much of his sight as she could but she wouldn't know how much that would be until he woke up. He needed to start regulating his own chakra again and then everything would work itself out. Of course once he did wake up, he was going to be questioned and his punishment decided.

That's what Naruto had occupied his time trying to work out. Sakura and Kakashi were helping his case too, trying to put all the blame on the curse mark rather than Sasuke. Naruto wasn't too articulate so he was thankful that his teammates were helping it. When Sakura and Kakashi presented their case it was so detailed and persuasive that even Naruto tried to force himself to actually pay attention.

Meanwhile, Itachi was hiding out in Naruto's apartment disguised as a civilian. Kakashi was suspicious and followed them constantly. Thankfully, Itachi wasn't known as the Uchiha prodigy for no reason. Naruto couldn't believe the disguise jutsus Itachi could perform. It was like watching someone paint.

Of course, it was obvious that Itachi didn't want to be living in Naruto's cramped little apartment. He wanted to go home…to the Uchiha compound. Though that would look way too suspicious.

Naruto entered the hospital as he had started doing after breakfast when Tsunade ran up to him.

"There you are, brat!"

"What's up, grandma?"

"Don't call me that!" She slapped him upside the head. Her face sobered. "He's comatose, Naruto. His chakra system and body in general were overloaded. He'll need time."

Naruto blinked. "Comatose…like in a coma? How long?"

Tsunade shrugged. "I wouldn't know. It's up to Sasuke to pull himself out of it."

"Can I go see him?"

"You have to wait. I just got finished with his healing session…but…" She smiled slightly. "Later today." She laughed. "Maybe. This little Uchiha is being a little bit of a brat. Even more so than you. I guess he wasn't expecting to end up in Konoha and he nearly blew out a wall."

Naruto's fists clenched but his face was all smiles and sunshine. "I'm going to haul his ass to Ichiraku's when he gets outta here!"

"You think he'll go willingly?"

"Well of course not but I don't care."

Tsunade laughed but then her face sobered. "Naruto, you do understand that Sasuke is profoundly deaf and probably still very much blind. On top of that he's suffering for temporary paralysis from all the overload. He needs to go through rigorous rehabilitation—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Naruto said waving his hand. He caught Tsunade's eye. Itachi had told him as much already. He had thought of a solution. "He'll just live with me. I'll take care of him. Don't worry, he won't escape or anything." He clenched his fists determinedly. "Not again."

"Don't be stupid. Sasuke needs a lot of care."

"Sakura can just come over or whatever. But trust me, baa-chan. I know this is what's best for Sasuke. We can live in the Uchiha compound. He knows his way around there."

"Naruto—"

"Pleaaseeeee! Baa-chan, this is important. I can help Sasuke. I really can. It can be my mission. Sure, I don't know any blind or deaf people but I'm loud. I'll make him hear me." Naruto's face softened. "And I can take it when he lashes out. I'm the only one that can take it…trust me."

Tsunade stared at the Uzumaki for a long moment.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"That's what I said, brat."

"YES!" Naruto jumped into the air, fist pumping. "I'll go move my stuff in there now and then I'll get him later and—"

"Naruto, his sentence is still being—"

"It probably needs cleaning though. God I hope they're no ghosts there. Has anybody lived there since…since…since—"

"Sasuke might be imprisoned."

Naruto was silent. "Why?"

"It's what Danzo thinks is best. Sasuke is a traitor after all."

Naruto growled. Itachi warned him about Danzo. That bastard who had manipulated a thirteen year old into thinking killing his family was the only option there was.

"Tell this Danzo guy to shove it!"

"Naruto—"

"I bet he doesn't even know Sasuke. I bet he's just after his Sharingan too. That's all everyone cares about when they talk about Sasuke. Sharingan this and Sharingan that. What's so great about—"

"Naruto—"

"And HONESTLY who does this man think he is waltzing around giving orders—"

"NARUTO!"

Tsunade slammed her foot into the floor shaking the entire hospital. "Just go get the compound ready. I won't let him imprison Sasuke. Beyond leaving Konoha to Orochimaru, Sasuke generally hasn't committed any heinous crimes. It'll probably just be community service."

Naruto made a face. Sasuke doing community service? He laughed to himself.

"Now get out of here, Naruto."

Naruto was about to turn when he suddenly calmed and thought about Sasuke. His best friend really couldn't see and couldn't hear. Sasuke hated feeling weak let alone helpless.

Man, he was going to be one cranky Uchiha.

But Naruto wouldn't let Sasuke succumb to loneliness again.

He remembered when he was little when he first realized there was someone else like him. He had seen Sasuke sitting on the dock while he was walking home from school. They were little then and he had gotten embarrassed when they made eye contact. He had made a face and turned away.

His heart ached with regret.

Maybe if he hadn't been so angry then, maybe—

"Baa-chan…what can we do for Sasuke?"

"I'm going to have an audiologist check his ears now that he's awake and see if hearing aids can help him," Tsunade said slowly. "But Sasuke will probably need to learn sign language to communicate more effectively with an interpreter because this hand-spelling is not effective at all. That is, hopefully, when he regains the use of his hands. I'm afraid the last genjutsu he was subjected to was just one too many things for him to handle when his system was already so fragile. Then there's his blindness. At this point, Sasuke will no longer be able to be a shinobi."

Something broke inside Naruto.

"I will find someone who can help him learn how to live in his new situation. It would help if you learned more about it yourself, Naruto. Since you want him to live you so badly."

The blond frowned at Tsunade's last remark. At least he had Itachi to help him but she was right. He needed to be proactive as well.

He thought for a moment.

"Baa-chan," he began tentatively. "Is there a way I help his chakra system? I mean the kyuubi…?"

…

Sasuke woke with his head pounding and hot pins and needles all throughout his body.

It was so dark and quiet.

His muscles tensed for a moment and he panicked unsure of where he was and what was going on? What had happened to him? He sat bolt upright looking around wildly shoving away what he thought were hands. But he fell back almost immediately unable to hold his own weight. His fingers moved along the bed sheets and clutched at whoever was beside him. He spoke but he couldn't hear his voice! It smelled of anesthesia—

_I will always love you._

His brother!

Everything that he'd seen. His parents' dying. Itachi had…had saved him. Where was Itachi?

Calm down, he told himself. You are a ninja.

Recap: Deidara's explosion had left his deaf and blind (wonderful). The chidori to his body had severely crippled his chakra system and when Itachi put him under genjutsu he had…he had…

Okay so that's all he remembered. He sniffed. It smelled like he was in the hospital. That would make sense considering that he was injured. But where were the others and what hospital?

His hands were still clutching someone's shirt and he finally realized how little strength he had.

He frowned and slumped back in the bed weakly.

He had the strangest sensation that someone was speaking to him. There was suddenly hot breath against his cheek. He sniffed and his frown deepened.

"I'm deaf, Naruto," he thought he said.

He whacked the face away from his own.

So he was in Konoha.

How the hell did he end up here? It was not a place that was friendly with Itachi so why—then where was his brother. He needed to remain calm. He would get nowhere if he panicked especially considering his condition.

A warm hand took his own. What did the dobe want?

_Healing._

What? When did Naruto become a medical ninja? The hot pins and needles sensation returned and his muscles twitched. That didn't feel like normal healing chakra.

He blinked a few times and stared about. It took a few moments but he started to realize that there were…shapes and shadows all about him. He didn't have any depth perception to any of it but he could _see_ something other than nothing.

He opened his mouth but said nothing. It was weird speaking when you couldn't hear. He shivered as the pins and needles increased dramatically and he got a vague sense of…red chakra.

Demon chakra.

He looked toward Naruto's shape and realized it was glowing faintly a mixture of dueling gold and red chakra. He wondered about his Sharingan…

Suddenly Naruto pulled away and his chakra dissipated into the shadows. Another shadow entered the room and pulled at Sasuke's hand. He tried to pull away when he realized they were writing something out. He grumbled what he hoped was silently to himself.

_Ears._

The shadow snapped headphones over his ears. They then proceeded to write on his palm.

_Hear?_

He shook his head. His stomach churned when he felt the headphones vibrate with sound. He swallowed as panic rose in his throat when the gravity of his situation began to set in. He was deaf … and blind. He tried to control his breathing but he thought he felt Naruto stiffen as if attuned to his emotions.

Suddenly there was a low _beep_ in his right ear.

He lifted his head and tapped his right ear. The shadow did a few more tests. She shone lights in his eyes. He told them what he saw and what he "heard." The shadow left.

Naruto grabbed his hand before turning to leave.

And Sasuke did something he thought he would never do.

He squeezed it and help it for a moment. His whole life was flipped inside out what did it matter what he did now. He was useless. He was nothing now. He couldn't be a ninja like this and everything he had lived for, killing his brother, was shattered.

He had given up everything and gained nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

He was deaf, blind, alone, and useless. Where was his brother? He gritted his teeth in anger. His brother had done this to him! Despite everything, the man had put him on this path of destruction.

Naruto's hand was warm when he squeezed back.

…

The interrogators had finally left, leaving Sasuke in the terrible nothingness.

He had been in the hospital for a few days now. Naruto had been visiting almost every day since he woke up and everything seemed to be a in state of delicate flux. That was why he had tried to tell the interrogators everything he knew and prayed they hadn't captured his brother. Those Konoha bastards, he clenched his teeth. They would kill Itachi even after it was their fault for forcing him into this situation.

But he didn't want to do anything suspicious…and he wanted desperately to get back to how he was. He was helpless like this. He was a disgrace to his family like this.

He hated the smell of antiseptic and chemicals. He could feel the warmth of the sun pouring through his window and the inconsistent draft against his breeze when the door opened or closed. He didn't bother turning his head to whoever was here. There wasn't much of a point.

He had the vague notion that they were speaking.

He cocked his head to the side. Could he _hear_ them? He sniffed the air and it smelled like grass and…ramen?

He almost burst out laughing. It figures it was Naruto. It figures that he could hear that loud asshole.

He licked his lips. "I've told you this every day that I can't hear you, moron," he hoped he said.

There were hands suddenly on his shoulders, helping him sit up. He leaned heavily in Naruto's grip, his body completely robbed of any strength it once had. He could move. Everything worked but his strength was just gone.

There was someone writing in his hand.

_Home._

Thanks for that, Sasuke thought angrily.

There was another shadow with Naruto and they fiddled with Sasuke right ear. They were putting something in his eardrum…it was cold and plastic.

He felt them hit a button and—

"_Did it work?_" a fuzzy voice registered beside him. "_Sasuke…CAN YOU HEAR ME?!_"

Sasuke winced but couldn't deny the rush of relief that flooded him with that idiot's voice.

"Not so loud, baka!" he said but he still couldn't really hear himself. He heard his voice but couldn't register the words.

He was aware of a woman speaking but he couldn't make out her words either.

His stomach fell. "I can't really understand you though. I understood Naruto but…"

A hand squeezed his shoulder and more speaking ensued.

He shook his head. "What?"

"_Tsunade-bachan said it's a start!_" Naruto said.

Figures that Naruto would have the only voice Sasuke could understand in this hell.

"_You're being discharged from the hospital and put into my care_," Naruto continued and Sasuke glared at nothing. "_I've been using Kyuubi's chakra to try and perform what Ba-chan calls a miracle. But Sakura's going to come over and help you with physical therapy._"

So Tsunade couldn't give him back his ears and eyes.

Why couldn't have Deidara just killed him?

He was suddenly lifted from the bed and settled in what he assumed was a wheelchair. His stomach tightened as he felt Naruto fastening seatbelts around his unsupported torso to keep him from falling out. Again he asked himself why didn't he let Deidara kill him? If he had known that this would happen…that he would end up like this.

But he couldn't deny the relief he felt when they exited the hospital. The smell of the warm village was a relief after being cooped up in the hospital. He could smell venders selling food and the dust in the streets. He leaned his head farther back into the pillow that supported his neck. He couldn't kind of hear the bustling of people in the village but he couldn't register anything distinctive. Sometimes he heard a bell or a voice call out but that was it. He could feel their stares and their movement but nothing more. It was a weird and unnerving world. He had nothing.

And he didn't even know where they were going until he felt Naruto lifting him out of the chair and then carrying him into…a house. The temperature dropped slightly and he smelled must and dust. This was an unoccupied house and from the movement of the air, it was very open and rather large. So it wasn't Naruto's house.

"Where am I?" he asked.

He was gently laid back into a bed. The sheets were musty and needed to be washed. But it felt…familiar. His chest tightened when Naruto grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"_The Uchiha Manor_," Naruto answered.

Sasuke took a ragged breath and turned his head from side to side but there was nothing to be gained from that. His earing aid didn't help with dimensions of what was around him.

He clenched his fists weakly.

How in the world did he end up in Naruto's care? Naruto couldn't even keep milk from spoiling let alone care for someone besides himself. Naruto never had anyone to care for in this way. Not that Sasuke needed any—

Shut up, he told himself. Maybe if you would stop being so arrogant and prideful then you could actually heal and get out of this situation.

"_Oi_!" Naruto was screaming, snapping Sasuke out of his thoughts. "_Are you hungry? I think_…" Naruto's voice was lost. Did he walk away or something? Sasuke couldn't tell. He really couldn't hear much. There was a knocking…somewhere.

"Naruto…?" Sasuke croaked trying to articulate his voice better. "You can't…speak so lowly. I still can't hear you."

There was suddenly a hand gripping his. It was shaking and Sasuke was aware of little wet droplets on his stilled skin. Was Naruto crying?

"_I'm sorry, Sasuke_," Naruto practically shouted. "_I should have been able to save you._"

Ugh, Naruto couldn't ever keep himself together. The idiot was always running into situations screaming and not thinking about the outcomes. What right did he have to criticize Sasuke?

The hand gripped tighter and for some reason, in Sasuke's world of nothingness, silence and darkness, he found himself wanting to hold on to something. It wouldn't mean anything. Nothing he did could mean anything. He was nothing. He was helpless.

He _should _die.

So his weak fingers grasped Naruto's back.

…

**A/N Sorry this is taking me so long to get out. I've been crazy busy and have had no time to write! Anyway let me know how you liked this chapter if you liked this chapter!**


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